Stress

Overview

Definition of stress
In pronunciation, stress has a unique meaning.

Stress is to give particular emphasis or importance to syllable or word when speaking.

Details
English is what we call a stressed language. This means that most of the meaning in English comes from the stress on syllables or words. It means that key words in a sentence are stressed and some are eaten up when we speak.

Details
Other languages, such as Spanish, are said to be syllabic. Thai is a tonal language (this means that most of the meaning comes from the tones).

Uses of stress
There are many uses of stress in English. Can you think of any?

Uses of stress
Here are some examples:
To show danger To show emergency For emphasis To show differences in words (present v present) For sarcasm (wet v dry) Humour Questions (AQI) Emotion